Thursday, June 27, 2013

Each One, Teach One

Hey Pooka Family!  Giving back to our community is so important.  Before I got married and had Taiye I was an avid volunteer.  I was on the board of directors for Jersey Cares, I volunteered frequently at the Boys & Girls club on Avon Ave in Newark, Hudson Cradle in Jersey City, NJ Seeds, and other organizations.  Many times I was the only person of color volunteering at these organizations and I could not understand why "we" did not make the time to give back to our kids.  Of course, now I can understand how challenging it can be to make time to volunteer but I still don't think that should give us a pass at not doing it.  It is so important for these kids to see our faces taking the time to give back too.  If you can't find the time to do at least 1 day of volunteering a month consider signing up to volunteer through your job.  Most companies have a philanthropic arm where they either donate money or organize volunteers for major non-profit organizations.  Do a little homework and see what your job offers with respect to donations/volunteering in "our" communities and sign up or sign on to help.  Many companies have a matching program so if you donate money then they will match your donation.  And though there are large organizations who are more visible with respect to their volunteer/donation efforts, don't forget about the smaller organizations in our communities.  Here are a couple:


Together as One Foundation, Plainfield NJ  http://togetherasonefoundation.org/
@togetherasonefd

S.O.F.I.A, Montclair, NJ   http://supportsofia.org/about-us/

The three Doctors, Newark, NJ http://www.threedoctors.com/
@Threedoctors


Be a Blessing to someone else!!

1 comment:

  1. You are so right. Life happens and we selfishly think our life is the only thing happening. There are so many kids that need the same things that we take for granted, so for me I'll be back volunteering like I use to. Thanks for the reminder

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